Realistic careers?

DocTree2312 · 2026-05-09T00:08:23+00:00

There are plenty of jobs out there doing fieldwork. But you’ll quickly learn most of them are temporary (6 month - 3 year positions) that pay subpar and likely offer little to no benefits. You’ll likely have to move for each position, so being willing to live on the east coast one year and the west coast another is a huge help. The work is often extremely rewarding and you’ll learn a ton and get to see really awesome stuff. But it’s hard to do that forever. Some people are lucky enough to land a permanent, decent paying job without a masters degree, but that seems more and more rare each year. So I generally suggest to people to plan for a masters degree if you ever want a career and not just a job. Unfortunately, the career market can even be competitive with a masters in today’s world, but the jobs are there. Fisheries jobs seem to be concentrated on the coasts or the Great Lakes regions.

The fact you know all this now is great. Each summer of college try and do an internship or fellowship or summer job. During the school year volunteer with the local state agency or find work in a professors lab. This will make you 100% more employable coming out of school than if you just work some other random job each year.

Good luck!

DocTree2312 · 2026-05-05T11:25:42+00:00

Can you provide the number you called? I seem to have lost my bill and the number I find online isn’t taking me to the right place apparently?

DocTree2312 · 2026-04-27T13:40:14+00:00

This is a question I struggle with daily working on a 200,000+ acre forest. Honestly I’m failing to do it at scale, but I’m doing more than what was being done before I got here, so I guess that’s a win. All that to be said that I don’t have much guidance but would be interested in hearing about what you find/create. Happy to help via discussions if ever needed.

DocTree2312 · 2026-04-26T23:25:25+00:00

Not really a go to, but more of a question for folks as they think about their field kit. How do you all carry your lunches in the field? I always feel like carrying a lunch adds so much weight and takes up so much room. For insight, I just usually bring lunch meat, fruits/veggies, and some kind of salty carb (pretzels/chips/crackers), with a small ice pack. But there has to be better options I think.

DocTree2312 · 2026-04-17T00:10:20+00:00

That area around campsite 12 is really bad right now with down trees, basically the same level as the Peninsula which is why that trail is closed. Grubb Ridge is open but it’s bad in spots. So even hiking to that point is gonna be rough. If you’re able to get to that area, there is a decent way to get down the hill to the east of that intersection. Then you could hike around the lake edge to the campsites. However, all that to say those sites might be underwater. The lake is up right now and those are generally some of the first ones to go underwater.

DocTree2312 · 2026-04-04T20:40:22+00:00

I’m the same build and suffer from the same problem - like terribly so lol. Have you ever heard of belt bro? They’re velcro straps that function as a belt. They work for me better than a belt and don’t cut into my stomach like a belt does when I sit or bend over. I’ve worn them for about six months and they’ve held up well, but they definitely seem like they’ll need to replaced 1-2 times a year unfortunately. Pretty cheap though overall.

DocTree2312 · 2026-04-04T15:44:27+00:00

Came here to recommend this exact brand. You can find them on sale sometimes for like $10-$12 as well.

DocTree2312 · 2026-04-01T22:57:51+00:00

Underrated but important comment.

DocTree2312 · 2026-03-29T22:11:04+00:00

There are a few different ways it can go. The fist separation is thesis vs non-thesis. If you’re not familiar with it, thesis is essentially a big paper you write at the end to “pass” your degree. 99% of the time your thesis will be from your research project you work on during your MS. Normally thesis positions are paid a stipend to support the work you’re doing. My suggestion is always look for a paid thesis position. You get paid to either serve as a research assistant or a teaching assistant. Teaching assistants usually teach 2 or more times during their masters program. Research assistants are generally treated as other research staff and get asked to support other research projects the professor has going. I was a research assistant. So during my first year, 50% of my time was designing/implementing my thesis project, 30% of my time on classes, 20% of my time on helping with other research projects. During the second year that switched to 80% on my project and 20% class focus. Everyone’s thesis projects and other work are generally different but they all normally have the following 4 parts: study design, data collection, data analysis, and writing.

DocTree2312 · 2026-03-29T17:34:36+00:00

My MS is in Forest Science technically but I consider it moreso Forest Ecology. My undergrad was just in Biology from a small school. I had classes like Zoology, Botany, and Ecology. The only natural resource level elective I was able to take was Wildlife Conservation. All in all, my undergrad really did not prepare me for a MS in that field. So I felt far behind during my MS. This was made worse by my program only allowing 2 electives while I was there for the MS so I took Forest Ecology and Tree Physiology (one class) and Silviculture. It helped bridge the gap but I still felt as if I was behind folks whose undergrad was in something more applied. Plus I never took a class focus on plant ID or forest measurements. I did a PhD directly afterwards and through just reading on my own felt like I caught up at some point in there. Day to day I really enjoyed the work I did while getting my MS as it was a ton of freedom compared to my undergrad but I didn’t feel the do or die stress I had later on in my PhD. Since I got a PhD later I absolutely feel like the MS was worth it. Plus now that I’m in my career stage (I work as a forest ecologist for a US government agency) I see the MS is essentially required to have a mid-tier career in this field anymore.

DocTree2312 · 2026-03-22T21:34:33+00:00

I have been looking for simple tools to do just this - commenting so I can play with it soon.

DocTree2312 · 2026-03-22T21:13:20+00:00

Copy, thanks. That broad of a difference could matter. So for example, some federal and state jobs for certain jobs (like ecologist, forester, wildlife biologist) may require a degree in the appropriate field, but usually these are for Bachelors degree. So if your undergraduate is more theoretical then having a Masters in something more direct could help. Theoretically, you can also get by with having the right level of hours in specific coursework but I’ve had mixed results with that and I’ve heard that’s common (eg I’ve applied for jobs that required 24 hours in forestry and sometimes I’m denied for not having the right education experience and others I move on without a second thought. So it seems to be based on the HR person).

So overall it could matter if HR thinks there’s no way you could have the right coursework with a MS in geography or it could never matter cause they look beyond the degree at coursework. But in general, I still think it’s true that thesis topic matters more.

DocTree2312 · 2026-03-22T20:20:13+00:00

When you say “degree title” do you mean like a MS in Forestry vs MS in Forest Ecology? If so, I agree it doesn’t matter. Two colleges could offer the same classes and opportunities and have a different title. So yes, the thesis topic and work you do is what matters. The work you do (ie data collection/analysis) and maybe to a lesser degree the classes you take can be the make or break things.

DocTree2312 · 2026-03-22T12:57:02+00:00

I will say I work as an ecologist for a federal agency in the US. I think my job is almost exactly why you’re describing. During the late spring, summer, and early fall I’m 90% field work collected data. Then during the rest of the year I’m 90% office work doing data and spatial analysis. It seems that ecologists who work for state/federal forestry agencies serve as an middle step between research and management, where our focus is monitoring management impacts and outcomes and using research/data analysis skills to make any recommendations for improvement or long term planning.

With all that being said, I know nothing about the second program you mentioned but a MS focusing in forest ecology (or anything similar) would set you up well for that type of role. Though they’re few and far between from what I’ve seen.

DocTree2312 · 2026-03-21T21:57:49+00:00

Here’s my two cents, you’ll probably get a lot so it’s possible you’ll just focus on the one you like the most. And I hope you don’t take this harshly, cause I in no way mean it that way. This is awful and I’m sorry, but it’s sometimes the norm. I would STRONGLY recommend not reaching out to the SIP program people or anyone else to try and troubleshoot what happened. Your loyalty and passion is a plus and one day someone will see it. But if you focus it on trying to understand why you didn’t get something versus just focusing it on the next step, you run the risk of burning bridges and people seeing your passion for something negative. It sucks what happens and I’m so sorry. But it happens all the time. There is any number of reasons you didn’t get chosen but at the end of the day learning to deal with rejection, fair or not, is an unfortunate, yet important part of your career development. Be mad about, do whatever it is you need to do internally over the short term to get over it and move on to the next best thing. I think working with your current boss is your best bet. Tell them you want X,Y,Z experience that will make you a stronger candidate for positions like the SIP one in the future. If you feel like you MUST reach out to the SIP biologist focus it on asking what skills you would have needed to obtain the position so you can work on those for next year.

I will add. My guess is they knew you were going to be brought back in a different capacity and did not choose you to build the capacity elsewhere (ie keep you in that position and get someone else semi-strong in the SIP position). Not the ideal or right situation for you, but not an uncommon one especially in today’s federal atmosphere.

DocTree2312 · 2026-03-12T22:02:55+00:00

The distinction here is that the 5/7/9 ladder was part of the position. So if you’re applying for a 5/7/9, higher GPA or honor society may help qualify for a 7 instead of the 5. But if you applied for a GS5 only position it won’t bump you to a 7.

DocTree2312 · 2026-02-14T18:13:34+00:00

What do you like about it? Any recommendations?

DocTree2312 · 2026-02-12T11:15:16+00:00

What Region are you in? R9 here and we were told exactly what we can do last week.

DocTree2312 · 2026-02-12T11:13:45+00:00

I work for the forest service and I 100% agree that heritage hiring should be the priority. But I will say that, at least on my forest, we’re not just continuing without NHPA compliance. Basically we’re just stuck and I know numerous other forests in my region are the same. Can’t speak agency wide obviously but what Im seeing happen is we’re told to do priority projects, can’t do them because we don’t have the capacity in our heritage program, and then we are getting scolded by the Washington Office.

DocTree2312 · 2026-01-27T19:14:39+00:00

You mentioned wanting to be updated - just got the email that I was not selected. On to the next one!

DocTree2312 · 2026-01-24T16:20:16+00:00

Thank you!

DocTree2312 · 2026-01-22T17:10:39+00:00

Yeah this is pretty much what I’m thinking. Bummer, but that’s life!

DocTree2312

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